UAE Tour 2020, February 23- February 29

[jaylew]

Which Spaniard would you suggest they do a rebuild around? They won't build a team around a non Spaniard. They were asked why they were signing so many "foreign" riders by some of their fans and their response was, don't worry we will always have a Spanish team leader and the majority of riders will always be Spanish.

You shouldn't build your team around anyone unless they are worthy of it. It's not a necessity.

 

[Koronin]

You shouldn't build your team around anyone unless they are worthy of it. It's not a necessity.

You have to have leaders on your team. Even Quickstep for all their wolfpack talk have leaders. They obviously feel Mas and to less degree Soler are worthy of their team being built around them.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Movistar was fine until 2017 with Valverde and Quintana as the 2 leaders. Their mistake was bringing in Landa, too expensive and didn't produce much. They lost (could no longer afford?) a bunch of key domestiques, Quintana's comparatively poor seasons left the team relying on Valverde too much for results and then the Acquadro situation meant more losses/prevented better signings. A perfect storm really resulted from going from a top 5 to bottom 5 World/Pro Tour team in just a couple of years.

IMHO Carapaz is a bigger loss than Quintana or Landa.

 

[Koronin]

Movistar was fine until 2017 with Valverde and Quintana as the 2 leaders. Their mistake was bringing in Landa, too expensive and didn't produce much. They lost (could no longer afford?) a bunch of key domestiques, Quintana's comparatively poor seasons left the team relying on Valverde too much for results and then the Acquadro situation meant more losses/prevented better signings. A perfect storm really resulted from going from a top 5 to bottom 5 World/Pro Tour team in just a couple of years.

IMHO Carapaz is a bigger loss than Quintana or Landa.

A bunch of key domestiques started leaving in 2016 and continued in 2017. The reality is they weren't fine and the riders leaving were a sign of issues (and much of it with Quintana not getting along with many of the Spaniards on the team). Quintana lost the support of team management during that same time frame. The problem is that since 2017 they've been over reliant on Valverde and until this year had done nothing to try to rebuild to fix that over dependancy, which not only did they know they had, they admitted they've been too reliant on him for a lot longer than just that. I actually don't think bringing Landa in was a huge mistake. I think it was no bigger of a mistake than their giving Quintana the contract extension instead of letting him just finish the contract he had and letting him go then.
The team wanted to keep Carapaz, but this is where the big issues with Acquadro come in, he had Carapaz sign with Ineos BEFORE the Giro while telling Movistar they could still negotiate to keep him. Once that was discovered is when Movistar went public and black listed Acquadro. Then we have the Amador situation. It also shows one major, major problem if one agent controls so many riders, that's not good for anyone. With Movistar blacklisting him it will make it harder for him to sign Spaniards as they want to race for Movistar.

 

[LosBrolin]

Hänninen had some problems with breathing but managed to finish on Ciccone&Valverde -group and was the best rider from this team. Definitely a good sign and he said that if the lungs are working better on Thursday he could go even better. At least he likes to ride in heat so that's not going to be a problem.

 

[spalco]

The team wanted to keep Carapaz, but this is where the big issues with Acquadro come in, he had Carapaz sign with Ineos BEFORE the Giro while telling Movistar they could still negotiate to keep him.

Wow, I wonder if he regrets that or does Ineos just pay so much that it doesn't matter?

 

[RedheadDane]

Don’t they just ride a different twin each day while the other one recovers?

“Twin doping” as it’ll become known as.

Naah… then they'd pretend there was only one, but actually have two.

 

[Lequack]

Adam has this weird upright style on a bike while climbing, it's hard to describe but it always looks like he is not as aerodynamic as he could be.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Naah… then they'd pretend there was only one, but actually have two.

Why do you automatically assume there aren't four of them?

 

[tobydawq]

Adam has this weird upright style on a bike while climbing, it's hard to describe but it always looks like he is not as aerodynamic as he could be.

Yes, and that actually makes it not that hard to tell the difference between them.

 

[Joelsim]

Which Spaniard would you suggest they do a rebuild around? They won't build a team around a non Spaniard. They were asked why they were signing so many "foreign" riders by some of their fans and their response was, don't worry we will always have a Spanish team leader and the majority of riders will always be Spanish.

Well, the best Spaniard so far this year has been Oscar Sevilla!

 

[Joelsim]

Why do you automatically assume there aren't four of them?

Ronnie and Reggie.

 

[RedheadDane]

Why do you automatically assume there aren't four of them?

Hang on... you're saying that instead of Simon Philip and Adam Richard, it's actually Simon and Adam, and Philip and Richard?
So... every time a rider has two given names, it's actually two riders? Every time a person has two given names, it's actually two people?

 

[sir fly]

Hang on... you're saying that instead of Simon Philip and Adam Richard, it's actually Simon and Adam, and Philip and Richard?
So... every time a rider has two given names, it's actually two riders? Every time a person has two given names, it's actually two people?

How many Portugueses make a cycling team?

Stojnić paying toll for all the kilometers in the break.
Good effort, nevertheless. The jersey looks pretty safe.

 

[RedheadDane]

How many Portugueses make a cycling team?

How many Colombians?

 

[sir fly]

How many Colombians?

Women, keeping their née, married to Portuguese men?

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm not talking about Surnames. I'm talking about given names. Adam Richard, Simon Philip, Egan Arley, stuff like that.

 

[sir fly]

I'm not talking about Surnames. I'm talking about given names. Adam Richard, Simon Philip, Egan Arley, stuff like that.

Few couples...

 

[Cinemaniak]

DQS is running out of men to help Bennett. Bad timing again?

 

[sir fly]

Very good sprint and victory for Groenewegen.
Hee finished off what looked JV's premature lead-out.

Hats off to Clarke, as well.

 

[Cinemaniak]

Awesome top 5! And all of them pretty close

1	Dylan Groenewegen	Team Jumbo-Visma	4:16:13
2	Fernando Gaviria	UAE-Team Emirates	,,
3	Pascal Ackermann	BORA - hansgrohe	,,
4	Sam Bennett	Deceuninck - Quick Step	,,
5	Caleb Ewan	Lotto Soudal	,,
6	Kaden Groves	Mitchelton-Scott	,,
7	Jakub Mareczko	CCC Team	,,
8	Attilio Viviani	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	,,
9	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	,,
10	Max Walscheid	NTT Pro Cycling	,,

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

That was an impressive one again

 

[Lequack]

 

[Escarabajo]

A bunch of key domestiques started leaving in 2016 and continued in 2017. The reality is they weren't fine and the riders leaving were a sign of issues (and much of it with Quintana not getting along with many of the Spaniards on the team). Quintana lost the support of team management during that same time frame. The problem is that since 2017 they've been over reliant on Valverde and until this year had done nothing to try to rebuild to fix that over dependancy, which not only did they know they had, they admitted they've been too reliant on him for a lot longer than just that. I actually don't think bringing Landa in was a huge mistake. I think it was no bigger of a mistake than their giving Quintana the contract extension instead of letting him just finish the contract he had and letting him go then.
The team wanted to keep Carapaz, but this is where the big issues with Acquadro come in, he had Carapaz sign with Ineos BEFORE the Giro while telling Movistar they could still negotiate to keep him. Once that was discovered is when Movistar went public and black listed Acquadro. Then we have the Amador situation. It also shows one major, major problem if one agent controls so many riders, that's not good for anyone. With Movistar blacklisting him it will make it harder for him to sign Spaniards as they want to race for Movistar.

Movistar has some sponsorship responsibilities in Colombia and therefore the Colombian signings. That Quintana ended up being a great rider was a plus. Movistar did not pay very high their domestiques that's the true reason why some of their best domestiques leave. Amador, Castroviejo, Carapaz (at that point when he signed). Riders leaving because of Quintana's personality is the biggest BS I have heard in a long time. Where do you think they are? in High School?

I believe that Quintana and Movistar relationship was already broken. Especially when they brought Landa to put pressure on him. That was a very poor move. Very poor. Anyway you want o see it. If Quintana flourishes in Arkea you must have to question Movistar a little bit. You have to. Even if Quintana has a hard personality you cannot let that go without a critical eye.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Good win. Groenewegen is still the man to beat in a boulevard sprint.